DEAR ABBY: My husband and I just returned from the beach -- our first outing this season. It was a beautiful sunny day in Santa Monica, and the beaches were swarming with men, women and children. I had seen some ads of the new skimpy bikini bathing suits for women, but this is the first time I had seen them worn by real people.
Abby, from behind, some of those women appeared to be naked -- with just a wee little string back there, barely visible, attached to a small patch of fabric in the front, no bigger than a Band-Aid.
I am not some crotchety old woman; I'm 35 years old, but I must admit, seeing so much flesh exposed, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. (My husband laughed.) -- EUGENIA